More details surrounding the events leading up to the arrest of rapper Lil Durk for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire scheme have emerged.
The "Laugh Now Cry Later" rapper whose real name is Durk Banks, was arrested in Miami on October 24 for allegedly targeting fellow rapper Quando Rondo in connection to the 2020 killing of rising musician King Von in Atlanta.
Rondo did not die in the shooting but his 24-year-old cousin Saviay'a Robinson did.
October 25 court documents show US marshals were ordered to transport Lil Durk from the Broward County Jail in Florida to federal custody in California where he is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.
Lil Durk, 32, no longer appears in the Broward County Jail's online arrest portal.
Newsweek has contacted an attorney for Lil Durk and the Central District of California for comment.
The Detailed Context
Lil Durk founded the label Only the Family (OTF) in 2010.
He claims that OTF is not a gang after federal charges were filed against five men associated with OTF on October 17 alleging they tried to kill Rondo in 2022 for his alleged involvement in the 2020 shooting death of rapper King Von.
The men named in the suit are Kavon London Grant, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, Keith Jones, David Brian Lindsey, and Asa Houston. Lil Durk is not named as a defendant in the October 17 suit but is the sole defendant in an October 24 filing.
Prosecutors allege in the October 24 complaint that on August 19, 2022, multiple OTF members and associates used two vehicles and worked in tandem to track, stalk, and attempt to murder Rondo at a gas station in Los Angeles.
They claim Lil Durk has a monetary bond on Rondo's life. They say that the hitmen allegedly used credit cards linked to OTF and Lil Durk to book one-way flights from Chicago to San Diego on August 18, 2022, as well as a hotel room at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California.
Text messages between Lil Durk and one of the alleged hitmen read, "Don't book no flights under no names involved wit [sic] me," according to the complaint.
Lil Durk also flew to California with Grant on a private plane on August 18. Later that day, Grant allegedly bought black ski masks for the hitmen to wear during the murder.
Surveillance video allegedly captured Rondo and Robinson riding around town on the day of Robinson's murder in a black Escalade and being followed by a white Infiniti and white BMW allegedly carrying the hitmen.
Jones, Lindsey, and an unidentified third man allegedly opened fire on the Escalade at a gas station, ran back to the Infiniti, and drove away.
About 50 minutes after the shooting, surveillance video from an In-N-Out Burger in Los Angeles captured the co-conspirators at the restaurant.
A few hours later, Jones, Lindsey, Wilson, Houston, and an unidentified co-conspirator boarded a flight from San Diego to Chicago booked with the same credit card linked to OTF and Banks.
The men were arrested in Chicago on October 24. Upon the arrests, the FBI received a tip that Lil Durk had booked two international flights: a one-way flight from Miami to Dubai connecting through Doha, Qatar, scheduled to depart the evening of October 24, and another one-way flight from Fort Lauderdale to Switzerland, connecting through New Jersey, also scheduled to leave that night.
Lil Durk did not board either flight and the FBI learned he was on a private plane departing from Miami to Italy that night. He was arrested at the Miami airport.
Lil Durk's History of Legal Trouble
In a separate lawsuit filed earlier this month, Lil Durk is accused of being a part of the August 2020 gang-related shooting that killed rapper FBG Duck.
FBG Duck, whose real name was Carlton Weekly, was shot in the Gold Coast by a group of masked men as he waited to enter the Dolce & Gabbana store.
In May 2019, Lil Durk released the song "Turn Myself In" before surrendering to police for his alleged connection in a February 2019 shooting.
Lil Durk faced five felony charges: criminal attempt to commit murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and gang activity.
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